Daily Devotional
What is Hope?

January 29, 2018

Titus 2:11-14 says, “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”

What does the word “hope” mean in the Bible? It doesn’t mean “maybe.” We may use it that way in modern English, but that’s not what the word “hope” means in the Bible. The word “hope” means certainty, but not just any certainty. It is rock-ribbed assurance based on the Word of God. But it means more than that. It means certainty with anticipation.

When I was a little boy, my dad use to take us out for a ride on Sunday afternoon. The kids would be in the back seat and mom and dad would be in the front seat. You know how kids are in the back seat - they get into squabbles and fusses. We would be riding around the countryside on Sunday afternoon and my brother and I would start to fight. My dad would turn around and say, “When you boys get home, I’m going to whip you.” Now folks, I knew my dad well enough to know that was not an idle threat. It was certainty, but there was no anticipation.

The second coming of Jesus Christ is a certainty—indeed, it is a blessed hope.